Bill fold



C. LENFANT.

'BILL FOLD. APPLICATIQN FILED Ammo. 1921'. 1,423,69; Patnted July25,1922.

4 SHEETS-SHEET l.

INVENTR @diy/' BYC' C. LENFANT.

BILL FOLD. K APPLICATION FILED AUG-20| 1921. 1,423,669. Patented July25, 1922.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

f INVENTOR ,1 fa f5.1@ ZWWM i B u f j ATTORNEY BILL FOLD.

APPLicATloN FILED Auezo, |921.

Patented July 25, 1922.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

ATTORN C. LENFANT.

BILL. FOLD. APPLlCATlON FILED AUGZO. 192|.

Patented July 25, 1922.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

INVENTOR E53 M BY ATToRN .CHARLES LENFANT, NEW YORK, N. Y.

BILL FOLD.

tasas.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES LENFANT', a citizen of the United States,and resident of New York city, in the borough of the Bronx, county andState of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inBill Folds, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to bill folds or similar articles as containersfor bills, cards, receipts, or other memoranda. Generically considered,my present invention comprehends a bill fold of thatV general characterin which a main longitudinally extending bill receiving pocket isprovided and which is adapted to be folded or doubled upon itself, theprimary object .and purpose residing in lthe provision of certain novelfeatures of construction which enables the article to be so folded evenwhen a relatively large number of bills are contained in the behereinafter described and subsequently pocket thereof without distortionor buckling of the iexible walls of the bill fold.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating the present invention I havedisclosed several possible constructions whereby the desired end maybeattained. A common characteristic of these several suggestedconstructions, will benoted in that the inner wall of theJbill fold isin two sections the opposed ends of which are spaced apart. AA

vflexible connecting member is suitably secured at its ends to thespaced inner wall sections, said member being unattached or free fromconnection with the front wall of the bill fold and thereby providing aflexible connecting means which is foldable independently of the frontwall of the bill fold when the latter is folded upon itself.

It is a further generalobject of my invenv tion to provide a bill foldof the above description which may be manufactured at nominal cost andin the use of which a compartively large number of bills or other papersmay be conveniently carried in the pocketwithout conspicuous bulkiness.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in theimproved bill fold and in the form, constructionand relative arrangementof its several parts as will incorporated in the subjoinedclaims.

In the accompanying drawings wherein I have illustrated severalpractical and desirable embodiments of the invention and vin whichsimilar reference characters designate Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented July 25, 1922.

Application led August 20, 1921. Serial No. 493,779.

Abill fold open,

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the form shown in Figure 5, partlyfolded,

Figure 7- is a fragmentary elevation parts being broken away showing thereinforcement for the foldable connecting member,

Figure 8 is a longitudinal section taken on the line 8`8 of lFigure 5,

Figure 9 is a detail sectional perspective view illustrating the,relation of the parts when folded,

Figure 10 is a view similar to Figure 5 showing another alternativeconstruction,

Figure 11 is a perspective vview of the latter form of the inventionsimilar to Figure 6, e

Figure 12 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the devicecompletely folded,

Figure 13 is a section taken on the line 13-13 of Figure 10,

Figure 14 is a sectional perspective view showing the folded relation ofthe parts.

Figure 15 is an elevation looking at the inner sidev of an extended billfold and view. and

Figure 20 is a sectional perspective view lmore clearly illustrating onefeature of the construction. e

Referring in detail to the drawings and more particularly to Figures 1'toa thereof, 5 and 6 respectively indicate the two sections of theinner wall of the bill fold. ,Each of y these wall sections isconstructed ofa length of fabric 7 which is centrally folded uponitself, the said folds being reinforced by a sheet of paper or othersuitable material indicated at 8, which is adhesively secured upononeside of the cloth sheet 7 before folding. The two folds of which each ofthe inner wall sections 5 and 6 is composed are unconnected at theirinner ends, therebyY providing a tubular inner end portion on 10 each ofsaid walls, the purpose of which will be presently explained. I Each ofthe inner wall sections 5 and 6 is of a length less than half theextended length of the bill fold and the ends o-f the folded fabric 7constituting these wall sections, are securely stitched to onelongitudinal edge of the outer wall 9 of the bill fold. This outer wallis of leather and has a fabric lining 10, the edges of the fabric wallsections 5 'and 6-being secured between the leather wall 9 and itslining sheet. The end portions of the wall 9 are extended around theouter ends of the wall sections 5 and 6 inwardly longitudinally thereofand suitably'secured along their longitudinal edges to said inner wallsections, thereby provlding the pockets 11 in which cards or otherarticles may be conveniently carried.

The inner wall sections 5 and 6 when thus attached along their loweredges to the outer wall 9 of the bill fold have their inner opposed endsspaced apart `as clearly seen in Figure 2 vof the drawings. These spacedends of the wall sections 5 and 6 are connected to each other by aIrelatively movable member. This member consists of a length of fabric 12upon one side of which the transversely extending reinforcing strips ofpaper or cardboard 13 are secured. The inner opposed edges of thesereinforcing-strips are slightly spaced apart as at 14. A. second sheetof, fabric 15 is folded transversely around the fabric 12 and over thecardboard strips 13, the several parts being secured together by meansof a suitable adhesive. The end portions of the fabric strip 12 extend aconsiderable distance beyond theside edges ,of the enveloping fabricstrip 15 and the reinforcing strips 13. The central portion of theconnecting strip 12 bridges the space between the opposed ends of thewall sections 5 and 6, and extends into the tubular portions of suchwall sections between the folds thereof. The extremities of the fabricstrip 12 are secured to the paper linings or reinforcements 8 o-f thewall sections 5 and 6, butl it will be observed that a considerableportion of this fabric strip 12 between the attachedl extremitiesthereof and the reinforcements 13 is'free or unattached. It will beapparent from this construction that the inner wall sections 5 and 6 andthe connection between the opposed ends of these wall sections have moreor less-freedon'l for relative longitudinalmovement The connectionbetween said wall sections extends api proximately the entire width ofthe bill fold, but is unattached or free at both of its longitudinaledges from connection with the outer wall 9 of the bill fold.

In the use of a bill fold constructed in the manner above described,when a. large number of bills are placed in the main pocket between theouter wall Sland the inner wall sections 5 and (S and the bill fold thenfolded upon itself so that the inner wall sections contact with eachother, it will be evident that the fabric strips l2 and l5 of theconnection between the inner wall sections will centrally fold and theportions of said fabric strips reinforced by the paper or cardboard 13will be telescoped by the tubular portions of the wall sections 5 and 6as the opposed ends of these wall sections move towards each other inthe act of folding. This operation will be entirely clear fromacomparison of Figures 2 and 3 of 'the drawings. As the lower edge of the(':onnecting meansbetween the wall sections 5 and 6 is not atselves inthe space between the inner and outer portions of the wall sections 5and 6, as seen in Figure 3 of the drawings. Heretofore, in devices ofthis character it has been possible to oompactly fold the bill-fold onlywhen a relatively small number of bills are contained therein. Upon theattempt being made t-o fold a large number of bills in a case or folderof this character, the walls of the bill fold being continuous andstitched to each other throughout their lower longitudinal edges, wouldresist such folding and buckle upon. themselves. This n only renderedthe carrying of the bill fold.- in the pocket objectionable-because ofits bulk but also frequently resulted in a break- 'ing of the stitchesso that the bill fold was soon rendered unfit for further use. By meansof my present improvement, however, these several objections are whollyovercome and a bill fold is provided in which a very large number ofpapers, cards, etc. may be carried, and which when folded will be of thesmallest possible compass and will not be subjected toexcessive strainin the frequent folding thereof.

In Figures 5 to 8 of the drawings, I have disclosed another embodimentof the invention wherein the inner wall sections of the bill fold whileof substantially the saine construction above described, are notprovided with the tubular opposed end portlons. In this construction theconnection between the inner wall sections' consists of a single piecetions.

of fabric 16 folded upon itself tofenclose the spacedtransverselyextending reinforcing strips 17. The ends of the folded fabric areinserted between the inner and outer portions of the inner wall sections'of the bill fold asshown at 18 in Figure A8 of the drawings and areimmovably secured thereto by an adhesive or other' suitable4 means. Inthis case, the outer longitudinal edges of the reinforcing strip 17 aresubstantially in line .with the end edges of the wall sec- Thus when thebill fold is folded upon itself, as seen in Figures 6 and 9, theconnection between said end sections will fold along a central line, thereinforced portions of such connection moving into close parallelrelation to each other. It will be understood that the structure isshown upon a much exaggerated scalerin the drawings and the two parts ofthe bill fold may be brought much closer together, in fact, until thewall sections 5 and 6 are in contacting relation-to each other. It willbe understood that in this construction likewiseJ the foldableconnection between said inner wall sections is not attached to the outerwall of the bill fold. I have found this construction quite desirable inpracticaluse though it is not possible to carry as large a number ofbills with the compact folding thereof, as in the construction firstdescribed.

In Figures 10 to 14 of the drawings, I have disclosed still anotherconstruction of the device wherein the body of the bill fold is ofsubstantially the same construction first above referred to, the innerwall sections having tubular opposed end portions 18. In this case,however. vthe device is folded in the reverse direction to thev foldingof the previously described constructions. In other words. the inner`wall sections move away n from instead of towards each other while thetwo end portions of the outer body walll of the bill old are broughtinto Contact. In

this latter construction the same reinforced connection between the twospaced body wall sections is provided. As seen in Figure`13, however,whenithe bill Afold is in open or extended position the opposed ends ofthe relatively movable wall sections are in substantially abuttingcontact and the intermediate reinforced portion of the connectionbetween said wall sections is substantially entirely enclosed within thetubu lar portions 18 thereof. This connecting means indicated at 19 ateach side of the central reinforced portion thereof has a relativelylong foldab'le fabric section 20 which is attached at 'its ends to therespective wall sections. Thus when the device is folded. as shown inFigures 12 and 14, the reinforcing portion of the connection at eachside of its Ycenter moves outwardly between the spaced portions of therespective wall sections inystead of inwardly therebetween asis the casein the construction first described. In this embodiment of my inventionI have indicated in Figures llkand 12 one advantage thereof," thatis, inaddition to the tubular end portions of the, spaced Wall sectionsreceiving the relatively' movable connection therebetween they may alsoserve as adfold is exposed when the two parts of the bill fold are inopen or extended position. vIn the preferred construction, however, as-shown in Figures 15 to 20 of the-drawings, the pockets 11 extend theentire length of the lnner wall sections of the bill fold and thefoldable connection between these wall sections and in relation to whichsaid wall sections have longitudinal movement embodies a sheet ofleather preferably of the same color as the leather walls of the bill efold so that -when the bill fold is arranged as in Figure 15 all of thevisible walls or surfaces are of leather.

It is apparent that if the pockets 11 are made to extend the entirelength of the inner wall sections in the structures heretoforedescribed, inthe insertion of cards or other articles into thesepockets. there is the probability that the card will be inserted betweenthe two parts of the wall.section between which the foldable connectionis engaged and would interfere with the proper folding of the fabricpiece 12. In order to obviate this possibility I provide a sheet ofrelatively stiif linen 21 which is folded upon itself as at 22. To oneportion of this'folded sheet of linen and upon one side thereof acovering` fabric sheet 23 is secured. The edge of this .portion of thelinen sheet 21 at the end of the bill fold is obliquely cut as at 24andthe fabric .sheet23 is turned inwardly over this end edge of the linensheet and secured thereto by a suitable adhesive.

' At the fold 22 in the linen sheet 21 a slit 25 is cut to receive anextension 26 on one end of a guard 27 vwhich is also formed ofrelatively stiff linen. This piece of linen has a fold 28 therein and atone end of this fold`4 the taby or extension 29 is provided. Theextension 26 is adapted to extendkbetween the linen sheet 21 and thefabric covering sheet 23 and is adhesively heldin place.

The connection between the inner wall sections consists of a length offabric 30 secured to one side of a sheet of leather 31. The fabric is ofconsiderably greater length than the leather and has its ends disposedbetween the linen sheet 21 and the inwardly folded portion 28 of the.guard 27. Preferably, the fabric 3() is adhesively secured to the linensheet in spaced relation to the edge ofthev leather 31 and in addition,the folded portion of the guard 27 and the end ofthe fabric are securedto the linen sheet 21 and the fabric 23 by means of a line of stitchingindicated at 32. lVhen the guard 27 is se cured in place in this manner.it will be seen that the fold 28 thereof at its edge lies closelyagainst the leather 31 while permitting of the free relative movement ofthe inner wallsections and the flexible connections s`o that thefabric'strp 3l) may fold upon itself at its end portions. The outer orfront wall of the bill fold consists of the sheet of leather 33 having.a fabric lining- 34, the leather extending over the other or innerportion of the folded linen sheet 21 and being adhesively or otherwisesecured thereto. The upper longitudinal edge of the leather 34constituting the facing sheet of the pocket wall is stitched orotherwise secured along its longitudinal edge at the open side of thebill fold to the edge of the fabric sheet 23 and to the tab or extension29'which is interposed between the leather and the fabric. Thus theinner lining sheet of linen 21 and the guard sheet 27 overlying the endsof the leather strip 31 provide smooth walls for the pockets 11 betweenwhich the cards or other articles may be tion.

readily inserted. In this manner` I provide leather facings extendingfor the full length of the inner wall sections ofthe bill fold, thefabric 30 being invisible when the bill fold is open or extended.Preferably.I the leather 31 is of the same grade and color as theleather facing sheet for the walls of the bill fold.

From the foregoing description considered in connection with theaccompanying drawings, the construction and manner of operation of theseveral embodiments of the invention may be readily understood. Thedevice as herein described is simple and durable in its construction andmay be manufactured at comparatively small cost. It will be apparentthat by means of my improvements, the capacity of such bill folds and,therefore, its practical utility, is greatly enhanced and thedeficiencies inherent in devices of this character as heretoforeproduced have been entirely overcome. It is apparent that the bill foldmay be made in numerous different shapes and sizes andV that variousmaterials other than those above referred to might be employed in itsconstruc- Vhile I have herein described and illustrated severalembodiments of the invention, itis manifest that the device might lotheralternative forms and accordingly reserve the privilege of adopting allsuch legitimate, changes as may be fairly embodied within the spirit andscope of the invention as claimed.

l claim:v r

1. A bill fold comprising body walls, one of said walls consisting 'oftwo sections disposed in alignment and having their inner opposed endsspaced apart and means permanently connecting the opposed ends .of saidwall sections to each other and foldable upon itself when said wallsections are moved into arallel relation to each other` said connectingmeans during the folding thereof permitting of the relative longitudinalmovement of said wall sections toward Vand from each other with respectto said secured to one lngitudinal edge of the other body wall, andfoldable connecting means between said wall sections unattached to theother body wall and permitting of the movement of the opposed ends ofsaid wall sections towards and from each other in the joling and openingmovements of the bill 3. A bill fold comprising body walls, one of vsaidwalls consisting of two sections attached along one of theirlongitudinal edges to the other wall and having opposed tubular end`portions spaced apart, and foldable connecting meanspermanently attachedto said walll sections and extending within the tubular end portionsthereof.

4. A bill fold comprising body walls, one of said walls consisting oftwo sections attached alongsone of their marginal edges to the otherbody wall and having opposed tubular end portions spaced apa-rt, and aflexib le connection between said wall sections unattached to the otherbody wall and hai1 tions having a pocket extending the full lengththereof, a flexible connection between said wall sections consisting ofa length of fabric attached at its ends tothe inner walls of saidpockets and a leather sheet secured to one side of the fabric andextending at its opposite ends into said pockets butterlminating inspaced relation to the ends of i the fabric sheet, a leather facingsheetfor the other walls of said ockets, and a guard sheet of relativelystilie material arranged in each of said pockets and secured to the xinner wall thereof and .overlying the .free

end portion of the abrio and the edge of the leather sheet of theflexible connection be- 'tWeen said Wall sections.

`6. A bill fold comprising an outer body wall and inner Wall sections.constituting continuations of said outer viall and extendinglongitudinally from opposite ends thereof, said inner Wall sectionshaving Atheir opposed ends spaced apart and being secured alongtheir-lower longitudinal edges to the outer Wall, and a oldable partunattached'l to the outer 4body Wall and bridging the space between theopposed ends of said inner ywall sections. l

` tions spaced apart at their opposed ends and secured valong, theirlower longitudinal edges to the outer body wall, and a foldable partunattached tothe outer body Wall'and bridg- -ing the spac vbetween theends of said inner Wall sections, said foldable part being connectedatits ends to said inner wall sections.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, land I havesigned my name hereunder.

' CHARLES LENFANT.

